Sometimes you just need to make a mess to make a breakthrough, it’s the process. The breakthrough in artmaking comes for me when I can settle into recognizing the piece that I am working on is internally satisfying and that I can see its beauty. Contemporary artwork may be particularly challenging in this respect. Often times the satisfaction comes slowly and a piece will go through many states of exploration (a word that I use a lot) until I risk considering it completed.

Then there are other times when paint, plaster, pencil or other materials flow on the canvas or board and I am delighted with what has happened in a very little amount of time.

The question is then, “where did that come from?” Has the mess transformed into a vision that touches me and that I am ready to share with the world? The phrase “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” applies here and today all I see is beauty in the process!